Transcript of “Noisy As A Falling Cookstove”
In 1936, Carl Sandburg published The People, Yes.
That’s a 300-page poem that’s a kind of celebration of American culture and phrases and folklore.
And the American people who were struggling during the Depression.
And parts of the poem include bits of idioms and phrases that Sandberg didn’t necessarily invent,
But he incorporates it into the stanzas.
And I just wanted to share his description of audiences, which I really enjoyed.
One audience may wheeze like a calliope with sore tonsils, and another roar like a burning lumberyard.
Some of them, as you look closer, are slow as molasses in January or quick as greased lightning.
Some are noisy as a cook stove falling down stairs and others quiet as an eel swimming in oil.
Isn’t that great?
I especially love that last line.
Some are as noisy as a cook stove falling down stairs and others quiet as an eel swimming in oil.
Because they already look unctuous eels.
Unctuous.
They look super slippery.
Like you’ll never get your hands on them.
Right.
And they’re so quiet swimming in the middle.
Sandberg’s poetry deserves a look
If you haven’t paid attention to it in a while.
And if there’s poetry that you’ve been enjoying,
We’d like to hear about it.
Send it to us, words@waywordradio.org,
Or heck, read it into our voicemail,
